Light Within the Darkness
by hercules1100
Summary: Prequel to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky. As such, it is recommended that you play the games before reading this. This story delves into the events before the game. How our heroes met, and how they came to search for the Time Gears.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**Welp, here it is. My first fanfiction. I get the feeling I might have made this a bit too long for an opening chapter, but whatever, it'll do.**

**I do not own Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 2 or the franchise in general. All rights for Pokémon go to Nintendo, GameFreak and Chunsoft.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Prologue

They ran through the trees with great speed, crashing through brambles and branches alike as if they simply did not exist. The pain was nothing. They had experienced worse in their travels. It felt as if they were merely being tickled by small blades of grass, despite the damage they could see clearly forming on their arms, and on one's case, its clothes.

It was an odd duo, really. A human and a Pokémon. Not usually unheard of, but given the current predicament of the world, it was a rare sight indeed. One might think it was impossible. Humans were very uncommon in this area of the world, and this was before things had gone completely haywire, more than 100 years ago. Nowadays the idea of their existence in this land was utterly baffling. It was a mystery, to be sure, as to how this particular human had found its way here. The human itself was unsure of how it happened.

But here he was, running for his life along with his trusted Pokémon friend. His _best_ friend.

The human turned to his partner, fatigue plastered all over his face. They had been running for a good 30 minutes now, with a pathetic excuse for a rest somewhere in-between. Lungs on fire, he panted, "Almost there, right?"

The Pokémon turned, giving the human is usual, unfathomable look, and nodded solemnly. Speech was unnecessary for him at this moment. He found that running and talking simultaneously proved to be more trouble than it was worth, and so remained silent.

A small smile crept over the human's face. Whether it was from triumph or relief, the Pokémon couldn't say, however he found himself returning the smile, as he always did. That was one thing about the human; he could always bring a smile to your face, regardless of how serious the situation was. And he could say with great confidence that this situation was as serious as they came.

Malicious laughter from behind them snapped the pair back to the matter at hand. They had to hurry. Time – or lack thereof – was of the essence, and it was crucial that they used every passing second of it to reach their goal. The stakes, they knew, were far too high. They couldn't afford to lose focus.

"Let's pick up the pace."

* * *

Finally, after another 10 minutes of non-stop running, their goal came into sight.

They had broken out into a rather large clearing. It was mostly empty, save a few leaves scattered around the perimeter, and of course…one other thing.

In the centre, sat a small blue ball, crackling lightly with a mystical energy, which was unlike anything the pair had ever seen. The ball itself gave off a quaint glow, illuminating the surrounding area with an equally as mystical, pale blue light.

The duo's eyes were transfixed to the sight, mouths hanging open in wonder and awe at its sheer beauty. Light like this wasn't normally viewable in this dark, dismal land. This in itself strengthened the pair's resolve further. They had to do this.

"It's…beautiful…" The human breathed softly after regaining some air in his lungs. He could feel his raging heart rate slowing, calming at the tranquil light that surrounded him.

"Indeed it is." The Pokémon nodded in agreement with his friend, tearing his gaze away from the light to meet his partner's eyes. "We can't afford to fail here. We must succeed."

The human nodded, a smile once again forming on his lips, "Right. We have to…for the future. We have to…share this beautiful-"

"My my! Beautiful? Your words flatter me so, boy." A deep voice interrupted the human from the shadows, followed up by a bone chilling laugh. "Trying to butter me up before the inevitable, I see?"

The pair tensed. They knew that voice. They knew it very well.

The same laughter boomed around them once more. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

The boy glared into the darkness around them, clearly irritated by the interruption. He growled, "Show yourself, you coward!"

This remark was answered by another one of _those_ laughs, along with many others soon after. It was clear their enemies had caught up to them, despite the boost of speed the pair had pushed on themselves. Would these guys ever give up?

"I'm afraid you're going to regret ever saying that." The voice spoke again, with a lack of its previous joviality. It was as cold as ice now.

And then, before the boy could reply, half a dozen orbs of sizzling dark energy burst out from the shadows with great speed, aimed directly at him.

"_Figures..."_ The boy muttered under his breath as the Shadow Balls flew towards him. They would aim for him, the more vulnerable of the two. He sighed nonchalantly as his partner leapt into action, the leafy blades on his arms glowing and extending as he swiped them through the oncoming attacks, three at a time.

In an instant, the Shadow Balls had dissipated into thin air, having been sliced in half by the Leaf Blade, leaving the duo utterly unscathed. "You never did fight fairly, Dusknoir." The boy's partner scoffed, the leaves on his arms retracting to their original size.

"Well, at least I fight as a warrior should. Focused and unwavering. Unlike you, who seems to only care about trivial matters." The Pokémon named Dusknoir shot back, motioning to the boy with one of his large, grey arms as he came into full view.

The boy raised an eyebrow at the ghost Pokémon, surveying him up and down as always as if he were expecting him to trail out of some kind of genie lamp. One look at his 'tail', which hovered just a bit off of the ground, would've made anyone do it, and the same held true for the boy, regardless of how many times he had encountered him.

His eyes then moved up towards Dusknoir's body, observing the odd, yellow markings on his stomach which appeared to bear resemblance to a mouth and two eyes. Something about that shape on his stomach unnerved him, as if it were holding back a great deal of power. He certainly hoped he wouldn't be discovering whatever lay hidden there any time soon.

And finally, he ascended his gaze once more to the ghost's head, shivering at the sight of it. Where most creatures would have had two separate eye sockets, with their own individual eye balls, Dusknoir had but one socket, in which an ominous red pupil glared out from beneath. The mere appearance of this made the boy's skin crawl all over, and not in a good way.

The boy's partner straightened, turning to face the ghost Pokémon in an offensive stance. His eyes alive with passion, "Maybe if you had some friends, you wouldn't think of it that way."

The ghost chuckled darkly, the stomach on his mouth twisting into a slight grin. "I'm sure you already realise that I have many 'friends'. Perhaps you just need a little reminder as to who they are."

The boy narrowed his eyes as Dusknoir finished speaking, tensing his muscles in preparation for what was about to come. He had been in enough skirmishes with this particular Pokémon to figure out how he played things. It was never pretty.

As if on cue, six blurs of purple materialized out of the darkness around them, their wickedly sharp claws narrowly missing the pair by centimetres as they dodged the oncoming assault.

"Damn Sableye!" The boy growled, jumping out of the way of another attack before retaliating with a heavy roundhouse kick to the face, sending one of the midnight purple Pokémon sprawling to the floor, the surrounding glow from the mysterious orb reflecting off of its diamond shaped eyes.

Being mere underlings, they posed a minimal threat to the duo, who worked together like clockwork. In a heartbeat, they would be at the other's side if necessary, protecting them from whatever dangers stood in their way, never thinking for a second about the risks. This had almost become their code of conduct. The trust between the two of them was an unbreakable, unwavering force.

However, what the Sableye lacked in strength, they made up for in speed, and this showed greatly as one moved in on the boy's leg, which was still left suspended in air from the kick, digging its claws deep into the it before he could pull it back, causing him to cry out in pain. Blood seeped through the wound onto the Sableye's claws, but it merely laughed, enjoying the look of pain on the human's face.

And then, as fast as it had arrived, it was gone, already clambering its way up to the boy's face to land a direct hit, its claws glowing an ominous purple as it prepared to attack. Unfortunately for it, it never saw the ball of green energy fly straight towards it, and was promptly thrown to the ground, knocked out on impact.

They boy turned to his Pokémon partner, his features softening into a mix of gratitude and slight guilt, already his friend had saved his life twice in the span of three minutes, he would have to make sure to repay the favour somehow.

A menacing chuckle sounded to his left, and instantly his features had hardened once more as he turned to face his remaining two adversaries, the adrenaline coursing through his veins nulling out the pain he felt moments ago.

Two Sableye were down already, which left the pair four enemies to fight, two on either side, not including Dusknoir. Glaring their opponents down would get them nowhere; they had to end this quickly. Time was running out.

The duo took their chance and lashed out, striking as one. Their blows landing direct hits on their enemies in perfect sync with each other, as if they had rehearsed this routine a thousand times beforehand. The boy putting his superior size and weight to good use as he pummelled into the Sableye with various kicks and punches, whilst his partner using his array of powerful grass type moves. They were most certainly a force to be reckoned with.

The Sableye hit the ground almost instantly, clearly unable to withstand the combined strength of the pair, murmuring painfully as they tried to get back on their feet. "Stubborn as always," The boy sighed, rolling his eyes. He had to commend them for their unwillingness to go down, whether it was from fear or sheer stupidity was beyond him, but he could tell that they had no intention of giving in.

Dusknoir tapped his fingers impatiently, scowling as he watched the boy and his partner dispatch of his Sableye with ease. It didn't come as much of a surprise to him; he had seen it happen countless times before, scarred by each and every failure the inadequacy of his subordinates had brought upon him.

However, these particular Sableye were among the best of the best. The Elite. Yet they were still disposed of faster than a horrible Christmas present. Clearly he had underestimated the partners. He would have to deal with them himself.

With a heavy sigh, he began to float towards the battlefield, paying no heed to his fallen 'comrades'. His attention was fixed solely on his enemies.

"I sincerely hope you two have been enjoying yourselves with your little playmates here." He stated simply, feigning amusement. "But I'm afraid playtime's over for now, children. Time for 'bed', hope you don't mind it if you find yourselves not waking up."

The boy turned to face him, an almost amused grin appearing on his face. "You wouldn't consider sending us off without story time, now would you?"

"I wouldn't dream of it." The ghost replied, moving to cross his arms in a relaxed sort of manner.

This movement on Dusknoir's part caused the pair to tense up once more, preparing themselves for an attack. Their many encounters with him had forced them to expect something like this, but what came after was something they were completely unprepared for.

Dusknoir, seeing his enemies' reactions, grinned playfully.

"So, who wishes to share first?"


	2. Chapter 2: Ridiculous Reminiscence

**(That moment when you originally call the Prologue to the story "Epilogue" T_T)**

**Derp. I apologise for the long delay on this. School has been murdering me with all sorts of exams and whatnot, and it never helps when your imagination up and vanishes.**

**Anyway, here's Chapter 2. Please let me know what you think of it. Admittedly I'm not too fond of my writing here, but whatever.**

******I do not own Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 2 or the franchise in general. All rights for Pokémon go to Nintendo, GameFreak and Chunsoft.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Ridiculous Reminiscence

The pair frowned at the ghost Pokémon, a heavy silence hanging in the air for a few seconds before the boy finally replied, "You what?"

"A story! You suggested it yourself! Who should be the first to share?"

"Oh you have got to be kidding me." The human sighed incredulously, shaking his head in disbelief. "We don't have time for this! And besides, you have the chance to capture us right here, right now. Why for the love of Mew would you waste time telling stories?"

"Well, it would be a shame to dispose of you in such a manner, without treating you correctly beforehand." Dusknoir smiled darkly, before continuing, "And anyway, a little bit of reminiscence never hurt anyone."

Ridiculous as his current behaviour was on the outside, Dusknoir was scheming rapidly inside. Quickly formulating a plan. He knew as a matter of fact that he could easily take down his two enemies, with minimal damage on his part.

However, they were not alone. They had another ally on their side, though she had not revealed herself at this moment in time, he knew she was around here somewhere. As such, he would be outnumbered three to one, and he could say from experience that the three of them together could cause quite a problem. As a result, using this charade he had set up allowed him to stall the two partners, giving the Sableye a chance to recover, and ultimately giving him the upper hand in the end.

A simple plan, but efficient nonetheless.

The human's partner glared at Dusknoir, clearly suspicious of him. It didn't surprise him. He was fully expecting them to be sceptical of this absurd behaviour. It was completley out of character. Frankly he'd be worried if it didn't cause his enemies to raise a few eyebrows.

After what felt like an hour, the Pokémon finally spoke up, still not letting his eyes off of his foe. "What are you up to?"

"Me? Up to something? Inconceivable!" The ghost gave the pair an innocent look, "I'm simply being nice."

"Cut the crap!" The boy's partner sneered, moving in to strike the ghost Pokémon with a Leaf Blade. His attempt was immediately rendered fruitless, though, as Dusknoir lazily swiped the oncoming attack away with a large, grey arm.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me correctly," the ghost sighed impatiently, his voice losing the sense of innocence it had only seconds ago, "I said I was being nice, and I meant it. Giving you this break to reminisce will help you in the long run. You can't exactly move forward with your plan right now, can you?"

The duo winced slightly at the comment. They knew it was true; they needed one more thing before they could proceed. They needed _her._

Dusknoir smiled at their reactions. He had hit the weak point in their plan. The presence of their friend was required before they could do anything, yet she was nowhere in sight. It was a major flaw to be sure. One that he could use to his advantage.

The boy glowered at the ghost, "So, what's your point?"

"My point is that whilst your little friend is taking the scenic route, you are left sitting here, completely clueless as to what to do, and I am left here, wasting time." Dusknoir replied coolly, his eye shifting its view between the two of them as he spoke. "Of course, you_ could_ attempt to do battle with me, but where would that get you? You'd be wasting your strength, and I'd be wasting even more of my time."

"So what? You mean to say we should just sit around telling stories for the time being?" The boy replied, eyeing Dusknoir warily, trying to read his expression. Clearly he was planning something, a trap of some sort, yet what he hoped to achieve by listening to stories was beyond him at the moment. What he did know, was that it certainly wasn't anything that was going to help their cause.

"Well, do you have any better ideas?" The ghost shot back.

The human started to speak, but couldn't voice the words. Though he hated to admit it, Dusknoir was right. There was nothing else they could do. Without _her_, they were completely stuck. And in all fairness, he couldn't think of a suitable plan B for this specified moment.

"Well...not really...but..." The boy replied slowly, looking to his partner for support, who merely sighed discontentedly before proceeding to sit down on the spot. "Uh...what are you doing?"

The Pokémon looked straight at the human, once again giving him his unfathomable look, but it almost looked like he was hiding a half-amused grin. "Passing the 'time'."

The boy felt like slapping himself in the face. There was no way _he_, of all Pokémon, was going through with this. Surely he could see it was a set up. "You can't be s-"

"Starting? Yes, I am."

* * *

**Grovyle**

* * *

Darkness.

I had always feared it, every aspect of it. It's appearance, it's lack of warmth, everything. There was nothing good about it. It wasn't comforting, it wasn't caring, and it never gave me hope. It even stole them away from me.

My family.

I had hatched alone into this world, alone in the darkness. Most Pokémon did, and most Pokémon kept it that way. Compassion wasn't something that one could find easily here, many of the Pokémon had been driven insane by the perpetual darkness that shrouded the land. These were the Pokémon who travelled in packs, the ones that picked on the weak. They weren't evil, but their mental states were...questionable, at best. Of course, being a newly hatched Treecko, I was forced to pick up survival quickly, not that it was terribly difficult, I had plenty of practice.

Due to this, it took only a short span of time before I had gained enough real-world experience to evolve. Looking back on it, I sometimes wonder how it even happened. Apparently, the ability for Pokémon to evolve had been rendered impossible by the halt of time. What made me any different from anyone else was completely beyond my comprehension at the time. My life had no meaning, I wasn't anything special.

Or so I thought.

I would soon come to realise that I was, in fact, part of something much bigger. Something I couldn't possibly have foreseen.

It all started, on that one faithful day.

* * *

The events of that day played out fairly normally to start with. I was out, scavenging for food and water in the nearby area as usual. I didn't know my whereabouts exactly, but that didn't really bother me, I was constantly on the move. Settling down in one specific place wasn't much of an option. Supplies, though fairly plentiful, were limited all the same, and most of the Pokémon in this Future world didn't know what it meant to share. Of course, this wasn't all that bad a thing. The amount of travelling I had done had allowed me to witness many different sites. Some awe-inspiring, others...not so much, but that's beside the point. The important thing was that I had experience in searching for food and shelter, so I knew exactly where to look. And as it so happened, I eventually found what I was looking for.

I had emerged into what appeared to be the remains of a small orchard, complete with a few apple trees, each holding 2 or 3 juicy apples. Just what I was hoping for.

After taking a quick look around at my surroundings, I made a beeline for the nearest tree, moving as quickly as my feet would carry me. Speed, along with stealth, was a necessity when gathering supplies, and I didn't want to risk the chance of losing out on these apples. There was always the possibility that they could be claimed by another Pokémon in a moments notice, and I wasn't going to let that happen, or rather, my stomach wouldn't.

Anyway, I wasted no time in harvesting the fruit. Climbing trees was my speciality, it required almost no effort on my part to cling to them. As such, it only took me a few seconds to take down all the apples and store them away in the small beige satchel I wore around my waist.

They were mine. Safe and sound within my possession.

I sighed in slight relief as I studied the contents of my satchel. There wasn't much in there, a few oran berries, the apples I had just obtained, and a lone seed with the letter "R" engraved into it. The bare necessities. Nothing more, nothing less. But the important thing was that I had found some more food, something I had been running short of.

Suddenly, a sharp crack sounded from behind me, bringing me back to focus. I wheeled around, taking a defensive stance, ready to strike the first thing that moved, yet I found nothing.

Puzzled, I took a wary sideways glance to the left, and then one to the right, but the end result was still the same. There was simply nothing there.

I frowned at the situation, unsure of what to do. I was certain I had heard something, and I had no doubts that it had come from this direction, but from what I could see there was no trace of anything ever being there in the first place.

And then it happened again, except this time, I could _see_ what was happening, rather than only hearing it. And what I saw was not what I had been expecting in the slightest.

I had assumed that what I heard was a twig snapping from the weight of an advancing Pokémon, it certainly sounded like it. That sharp 'crack' seemed unmistakable, especially since I had heard it so many times beforehand.

Yet it was not that at all. In fact, it was nowhere near it.

What I found instead, was a small, flickering pink orb of light a few feet in front of me.

Needless to say I was startled by the sudden appearance of the light. It wasn't something I was used to around here. It wasn't something _anyone _was used to. Yet despite my usual wariness of the unknown, I couldn't help but feel that this was somehow different.

That somehow, it would change my life for the better.

And that's when things got weird.

* * *

**Pfft. Creativity, what even is that?**

**And if you can't tell, the segment at the start is how I'm going to imply a bit of humour into this thing, because I really cannot write comedy xD  
Just thought I'd mention that before everyone flames me about how they're all acting OOC.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Encounter

**Six months had passed since that one dark night. Six months filled with pain. Six months filled with evil. Six months filled with something so utterly terrifying that not even God himself would dare do battle with it.**

** Procrastination.**

* * *

Chapter 3: The Encounter

A swish in the air. A snap of twigs. A cackle in the dark.

A small, leafy pink body flew through the forest with the utmost of elegance, seemingly unfazed by whatever was going on around her. This wasn't anything new to her, as a matter of fact it was quite the opposite. She'd been doing this most of her life, and it almost certainly never got any harder. Her pursuers, though tenacious, were unbelievably stupid all the same.

"Weird," she chirped out loud, smoothly dodging a Shadow Ball as it swerved wide of her petite figure and colliding with a large tree trunk a good twenty yards away, "How did I manage to get so side-tracked?"

She pondered over this for a while, easily navigating around the trees and bushes that threatened to crush her as her mind wandered, trying to think back to recent events. She was certain that she'd been on-track by the time she'd left Crystal Cave, despite Azlef's constant ramblings of whatever she had zoned out of. Of course she hadn't anticipated a maniacal group of Alakazam to be waiting for her outside of the entrance. Oh how they'd rue the day they asked her to bend their spoons again...

Another two Shadow Balls came hurtling towards her from behind, and this time she was forced to manoeuvre awkwardly to the left to dodge them both, throwing her off course. It hardly mattered though; she would inevitably reach her destination in one way or another, despite her pursuers' feeble efforts to capture her.

"You still can't catch me, by the way!" she trilled back at them almost cheerfully as she noticed them picking up speed in a fruitless attempt to match her pace, just as she had predicted would happen. _"Typical Sableye. All claws, no brains."_

However, despite her seemingly carefree demeanour, she was, as a matter of fact, in a very precarious situation; or rather, she _was_ the very precarious situation. She was needed elsewhere right now. Her presence was essential to their plan at this stage. There was no way around it. Without her being there, everything up until now would have been for naught. And there was no alternative. No plan B.

This was their one and only chance.

Accelerating even more now, she took a quick glance behind her at the Sableye to check their progress, only barely surprised to find that they were slowly closing the distance between them and her, if only temporarily. She was also not surprised to see them positioning themselves into an attack formation; it was their "go-to" plan if all else failed. Brute force remedied by more brute force. Logic at its finest.

"Oh this part is ever so fun!" she exclaimed suddenly, stopping dead in her tracks to allow them to form a six-sided diamond around her as they caught up, leaving her completely trapped. Or so they always thought.

To any onlookers, it might have seemed as though she were completely giving in. Landing oneself in a group of Sableye wasn't something one did for sport. If anything it would be classed as a rank A suicide attempt. Escape was impossible.

The same did not hold true for her, however.

It was, in reality, a very simple plan, one which worked almost flawlessly throughout any situation similar to one such as this. Not only did it allow for a very quick getaway, but it left most Pokémon utterly dumbfounded, even more so when it came to the Sableye. Not to mention the fact that they never saw it coming, regardless of how many times they had fallen prey to it. It was a perfect escape mechanism, especially when their tenacity was taken into account; there was no way she could be followed.

"So," she began as usual, eyeing up each individual Sableye with an innocent yet mischievous grin as she turned a full circle on the spot, "Did you hear the one about the Sableye and the Illumise?"

The effect was almost instantaneous.

No longer than three seconds after she'd said it, the Sableye were all moving in on her with great agility, brandishing their razor sharp claws menacingly in front of them, ready to tear the pink Pokémon to shreds. She was, of course, expecting this to happen, as it always had done before. They'd all charge in on her at once, exerting all the energy they had on one sole attack. Yet there would be nothing to receive the hits.

And with a flash of blinding pink light, she was gone.

* * *

**Grovyle**

* * *

Weird was definitely an understatement for what came next.

It exploded.

I should have expected something like this to happen. Looking back on it I still have to curse at my carelessness. I had learned many times, from experience, that I could never let my guard down. Curiosity killed the Delcatty, as the saying goes.

Arceus forbid what it did to me.

I was blinded and momentarily disoriented by the sudden flash of light. Instinct kicked in instantly, and I leapt - what I assumed to be - backwards in order to get away from the light as quickly as I possibly could to avoid anything more that came my way. The action itself had most certainly saved my life on many occasions before this, however it was not necessary this time. Even as I moved away, something which had seemingly emerged from the explosion of light still managed to crash right into me at a blinding speed, sending me toppling backwards onto the cold, hard ground in accordance with my current lack of balance. The impact was accompanied by a dull thud, and I let out a sharp wheeze as the air was knocked clean out of my lungs. They were burning, desperate to reclaim all the oxygen they had lost, however I had to stay silent. It was difficult, but somehow I managed.

After what felt like an age, I opened my mouth ever so slightly to let some air in, savouring every last gush of it as if it were my last. I made sure the action was very subtle as to not alert whatever had assaulted me that I was still very much conscious, assuming that was what they were aiming for. I highly doubted that, however. Most anyone would want you dead if you merely looked at them funny.

However the more I thought about it, the more I realised that that scenario was very unlikely. Whatever had hit me was most likely a weak adversary, considering they had to resort to incapacitating me before they engaged, and I figured it was very doubtful that their goal was going to be that of murder. Moreover, their immediate attack barely made a dent. Had they wanted to kill me, they would have dealt much more damage. The only other logical reason I could think of for the attack was theft.

Either way, I more than ready to take action. Such acts had become quite redundant to me now, I knew exactly how to deal with them.

I tensed my muscles, alarmed, trying to sense any sudden movements coming from my right hip where my satchel lay. If there was even the slightest nudge; the faintest twitch; I would be ready to retaliate.

A few seconds passed, but nothing happened. Still, I had to stay resolved. My enemy could have been wary of me. I had to be careful.

Another ten seconds passed, still nothing.

By now I knew something was wrong. The fact that they hadn't made their move by now was certainly curious. They had had a good few chances to make off with my supplies by this point, yet they had done nothing. Not even move.

Finally, after waiting a few more seconds, I'd had enough; I had to look.

There, lying upon my chest, was a small - what I assumed to be female - pink Pokémon no larger than my satchel. Its body seemed to be composed partially out of leaves (I couldn't be sure), which appeared to be battered and bruised, indicating a recent struggle had occurred. That in itself quickly disproved my initial theory, it was definitely not in any condition to go picking a fight with me. Not only that, but the colouration of its body had a slight tinge of red to it. "_Blood." _I grimaced, staring at the fairy-like Pokémon in silence. And as I did so, I realised there was one thing I had correct. It hadn't moved.

Not a muscle.

I slowly pushed myself up into a sitting position, making sure not to knock the pink Pokémon off of my chest with any force I exerted. From what I could tell, it was alive; most likely unconscious. Its breathing was almost inaudible, but definitely there. Slow and calm, unlike my own.

And at that very moment, as I looked down upon 'her' weak form, I felt the impulsive urge to abandon her there, exposed and vulnerable. In one way, it made perfectly logical sense. It had nothing to do with me. There was no reason for me get involved. No one had aided me throughout the many bleak situations of my life; there was no one in the world with a heart to do so. I had tried to show compassion before, and I still had the scars to prove it.

But as I thought this, my gaze switched to her face and I could feel something stir inside me. Something I had not felt in a long time. A sudden pang in my heart. Her expression, soft and gentle, was like that of an angel. It emitted a sense of purity and warmth unlike anything I had ever seen before. There was also something else there too, something I knew I couldn't refuse to help.

Innocence.

As my prior thoughts dissipated to the recesses of my mind, I began to ponder over how I could help. At that moment there wasn't much I _could_ do, especially not in that location. Taking action there would have been very risky, I was far too exposed; and if the pink Pokémon's assailants were nearby...

With a soft sigh, I took hold of the pink Pokémon in my arms and slowly began to rise to my feet, carefully as to not cause her any further injuries. Though not were not fatal, they were pretty bad all the same, and there was no telling how much more damage she could sustain before things got ugly.

With that in mind, I set off to find shelter.

* * *

A diamond sparkled up in the heavens.

Within the canopy, a lone shadowy figure watched in silence as the Grovyle delicately carried away the injured Pokémon seemingly cradled in his arms. His target lay in plain sight.

Or as of now, _targets_.

* * *

I had always ran unburdened. Freely. Nothing to slow me down. I could fly through the trees at lightning fast speeds, conquer mountainous landscapes in the blink of an eye, and clear wastelands faster than you could say Temporal Tower.

This, however, was a whole different experience.

Each and ever movement I made, every twist, every turn, every step. I had to think them all through before carrying them out, the risks were all too high if I did anything too suddenly. My 'passenger' was far more fragile than I had expected, waving and rolling about like some kind of rag doll no matter how gently I moved. Her limbs were like paper, and her muscles were far too lax for my liking.

Despite this minor setback, I eventually found somewhere to let her recover. A hollow at the foot of a very large, dead tree. I had discovered that these were fairly plentiful during my travels, offering very convenient accommodation for myself when I needed to rest. I entered without anticipation.

The interior of the hollow itself was bare, as I expected. They always were, save a few rotting apple cores and the occasional plain seed. No one was foolish enough to leave any supplies behind. They couldn't afford to. It was survival of the fittest around here.

After conducting a thorough (and rather unnecessary) check of the area, I gingerly placed the pink Pokémon down on the cold floor, stopping momentarily to observe her as she 'slept'. So far her condition had not changed much. Her breathing, though slightly more noticeable, was still soft and slow, and her injuries, whilst not any worse, were not any better either. I glanced around quickly, hoping against all hope that there was something I could give her. _Anything. _I scowled in discontent when nothing appeared to me.

Almost begrudgingly, I wrenched opened my satchel and grunted slightly as I shuffled through its few contents, knowing I'd have to use at least one on her if she was going to recover. I'd have to choose carefully. Any misuse could cost me dearly, my supplies were very limited after all. I couldn't afford to spare much.

After a few seconds of scuffling, I produced a slightly discoloured oran berry and propped it between my claws, furrowing my brow as I thought about what I was away to do. This one oran berry could be the difference between life and death for me, using it now - on a complete stranger - could put my life on the line.

That, however, had yet to be seen.

Before I could change my mind, I pried her mouth open with my free hand and dropped the berry onto her soft tongue, placing it at such an angle so it wouldn't tumble down her throat and choke her. I then proceeded to gently push her jaw upwards to mimic the motion of chewing, pulling back every few seconds to make sure the berry was still there and not halfway down her windpipe. I repeated this for a time until I was satisfied the mashed remains of the berry were small enough for her to swallow, and stood back whilst her body took over._  
_

Now, I could only wait.

* * *

**Okay, so I admit it did not take me six months to write this (though it sure felt like it ._.). In truth it only took me...a few weeks...at best. **

**I AM A TERRIBLE WRITER OKAY!?**

**...ahem. Anyway, this is the long overdue chapter three. You have no idea how painful it was for me to write this. IT'S HARD TO KEEP THINGS INTERESTING WHEN THERE'S NO DIALOGUE BETWEEN CHARACTERS.**

**I have no idea when I'll be able to get the next chapter up, most likely the 29th of Febuary if you're lucky. **

**********I do not own Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 2 or the franchise in general. All rights for Pokémon go to Nintendo, GameFreak and Chunsoft.**


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